Gene structure is the organisation of specialised sequence elements within a gene. Genes contain most of the information necessary for living cells to survive and reproduce. In most organisms, genes are made of DNA, where the particular DNA sequence determines the function of the gene. A gene is transcribed (copied) from DNA into RNA, which can either be non-coding (ncRNA) with a direct function, or an intermediate messenger (mRNA) that is then translated into protein. Each of these steps is controlled by specific sequence elements, or regions, within the gene. Every gene, therefore, requires multiple sequence elements to be functional. This includes the sequence that actually encodes the functional protein or ncRNA, as well as multiple regulatory sequence regions. These regions may be as short as a few base pairs, up to many thousands of base pairs long.
Much of gene structure is broadly similar between eukaryotes and prokaryotes. These common elements largely result from the shared ancestry of cellular life in organisms over 2 billion years ago. Key differences in gene structure between eukaryotes and prokaryotes reflect their divergent transcription and translation machinery. Understanding gene structure is the foundation of understanding gene annotation, expression, and function.
The structures of both eukaryotic and prokaryotic genes involve several nested sequence elements. Each element has a specific function in the multi-step process of gene expression. The sequences and lengths of these elements vary, but the same general functions are present in most genes. Although DNA is a double-stranded molecule, typically only one of the strands encodes information that the RNA polymerase reads to produce protein-coding mRNA or non-coding RNA. This 'sense' or 'coding' strand, runs in the 5' to 3' direction where the numbers refer to the carbon atoms of the backbone's ribose sugar. The open reading frame (ORF) of a gene is therefore usually represented as an arrow indicating the direction in which the sense strand is read.
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This advanced Bachelor/Master level course will cover fundamentals and approaches at the interface of biology, chemistry, engineering and computer science for diverse fields of synthetic biology. This
Biomolecular structure is the intricate folded, three-dimensional shape that is formed by a molecule of protein, DNA, or RNA, and that is important to its function. The structure of these molecules may be considered at any of several length scales ranging from the level of individual atoms to the relationships among entire protein subunits. This useful distinction among scales is often expressed as a decomposition of molecular structure into four levels: primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary.
The coding region of a gene, also known as the coding sequence (CDS), is the portion of a gene's DNA or RNA that codes for protein. Studying the length, composition, regulation, splicing, structures, and functions of coding regions compared to non-coding regions over different species and time periods can provide a significant amount of important information regarding gene organization and evolution of prokaryotes and eukaryotes. This can further assist in mapping the human genome and developing gene therapy.
A regulatory sequence is a segment of a nucleic acid molecule which is capable of increasing or decreasing the expression of specific genes within an organism. Regulation of gene expression is an essential feature of all living organisms and viruses. In DNA, regulation of gene expression normally happens at the level of RNA biosynthesis (transcription). It is accomplished through the sequence-specific binding of proteins (transcription factors) that activate or inhibit transcription.
This course will provide the fundamental knowledge in neuroscience required to
understand how the brain is organised and how function at multiple scales is
integrated to give rise to cognition and beh
This course will provide the fundamental knowledge in neuroscience required to
understand how the brain is organised and how function at multiple scales is
integrated to give rise to cognition and beh
This course will provide the fundamental knowledge in neuroscience required to
understand how the brain is organised and how function at multiple scales is
integrated to give rise to cognition and beh
Human papillomavirus (HPV) infections are the primary drivers of cervical cancers, and often HPV DNA gets integrated into the host genome. Although the oncogenic impact of HPV encoded genes is relatively well known, the cis-regulatory effect of integrated ...
Cell fate progression of pluripotent progenitors is strictly regulated, resulting in high human cell diversity. Epigenetic modifications also orchestrate cell fate restriction. Unveiling the epigenetic mechanisms underlying human cell diversity has been di ...
The adaptation of organisms to their environment depends on the innovative potential inherent to genetic variation. In complex organisms such as mammals, processes like development and immunity require tight gene regulation. Complex forms emerge more often ...